Gentle Present
by Lonelygoatherd
Summary: "The present had only begun to settle in later, after Andromeda had made her choice and her sisters condemned her for it. In retrospect it had come fleeting and fast, but the roots had been sowed gently and deep." Andromeda reflects on Bella. One-shot.


_"The past is gone, and cannot harm you anymore. And while the future is fast coming for you, it always flinches first, and settles in as the gentle present."_

* * *

Andromeda Black was eleven years old when Bellatrix first frightened her.

It was two weeks before Andromeda's first year at Hogwarts. She'd just gotten back from shopping for school supplies at Diagon Alley with their newest house elf, and she'd been pouring over the most captivating spellbook on her school list, '_Charms for the Keen Witch'_ all day. Narcissa had been pouty throughout the entire summer, growing even more snappy and withdrawn as the weeks went by. Andromeda could only attribute it to the fact that not only would Bella would be leaving for Hogwarts again this year, which would be her 3rd, but so would Andy. This would, effectively, leave Cissy all alone in their cold, dark manor home for the majority of the next two years. It made Andy sad. She loved her sister, and she'd miss her dearly, just as they missed Bella when she had left for Hogwarts. But now Andy would be joining her, and Cissy would be the one missing the both of them. It was unfair, she had lamented not only days before, how Andromeda got to miss Bellatrix with her when it was time for Bella to leave, and would get to miss her with Bella when they left together. She'd been saying things like this all summer, acting like how nine year olds were expected to act when faced what seems to them the end of the world.

This was most likely why Andromeda was letting her sister go through all of her new school items. She and Narcissa had done the same thing when Bella was eleven and twelve, smelling the pages of the books and reading about potions, playing with her snarky black kitten (which was now quite a rude cat), gently holding her wand, 12 ¾ inches, walnut and dragon heartstring, and trying on her new robes.

But Bella had been going to Hogwarts for two years already, so there was no point in her reveling in her sisters' excitement. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen all day; it was just Andy and Cissy. Andy reading her new schoolbook, Cissy alternating between wonderment and complaint. It was a comfortable day that led into a comfortable night. As Andy lay in her bed, she gazed out at the night sky through the large window in her room, a nightly ritual for her. She'd find the constellations and stars, and smile when it was the name of someone she knew. It relaxed her, it calmed her, and she always found herself drifting off to sleep within a matter of minutes.

Harsh words were whispered into her ear, and Andromeda found that this was what woke her up instead of the usual sunrise. It couldn't have been more than a few hours since she'd fallen asleep, because the sky was still dark and the stars still bright. As a groggy Andy tried to pinpoint the source of those whispers, she felt cold fingers curling around her arm, and dark eyes that belonged to her oldest sister staring into her.

"Andromeda." She was wide awake now, wondering what in the world Bellatrix was doing. It was Merlin-knows-how-early in the morning, and here her sister was creeping into her bed and giving her an odd stare. Honestly!

"Bella, what-what in the world are you doing? It's Merlin-knows-how-early in the morning, and here you are creeping into my bed, waking me up, and staring at me. Honestly!"

At this, Bella let go of her arm and, with more grace than she'd been exhibiting earlier, laid down on the bed next to her little sister.

"I'm sorry Andy. It's just the world. You and Cissy. Me. It gives me all these... thoughts." Bella was running her fingers through Andy's hair. It would have had a soothing effect, had her words not made Andy anxious. She turned towards her sister, their faces lit up by the moonlight and only inches away.  
"Whatever do you mean?" she whispered.  
"The world is always changing." Bella was talking so softly and lightly that Andy was afraid she'd miss something. "But yet the world is always the same as well. It's…us that change. We never stay the same." Bella was looking away now.

"I love you Andy. I love Cissy. I…don't want you both to change. Stay eleven and nine forever. Stay awake at night laughing about unicorns and peppermints." The more Bella went on the, softer her voice became, until her words were so quiet Andy was not but an inch away from her face. "I want your biggest fears to be the dragons in those books you like to read and…I want you to not have your dreams tainted with black thoughts."

Andy didn't know what to say to that, and Bella clearly wasn't going to continue. They laid like that for a while, Bellatrix looking out at the stars and playing with Andromeda's hair, Andy staring at Bella and holding her other hand. They laid like that until Bella thought Andy was asleep , gave her kiss on the forehead, and left so silently that Andy thought she was might have been dreaming.

This was the first time Bellatrix had caused Andy to feel something other than reassurance or happiness. The way she had talked to her tonight, so unlike her usual self, made Andy afraid, and uneasy.

That night was one that stuck in Andromeda's memory for years to come. It was one that she could remember with the utmost clarity.

Most people say they could never pinpoint the_ exact_ moment when things began to change. They say that it was gradual, that it was just suddenly…there, and while Andromeda could believe this, she also knew that she could attribute Bella's transformation to that night. She had been more herself after that, indeed, Andy hadn't again seen any other side of Bella that wasn't sisterly until years later, but she still pegged that quiet night as the one where everything had changed, however subtly.

It was a blip in their seemingly sororal relationship, but Andromeda knew that was the moment where the future had flinched, had given way to the dark side that Bella was slowly easing into. The present had only begun to settle in later, after Andromeda had made her choice and her sisters condemned her for it. In retrospect it had come fleeting and fast, but the roots had been sowed gently and deep.

Andromeda Black gazed out the window at the night sky as she gently rocked her sleeping grandson. She'd find the constellations and stars, and try not to cry when it was the name of someone she used to know. It used to make her feel at ease, now it just stirred up sad thoughts. But habits were hard to break and she was a woman of tradition.

When her grandson woke up hours later, his delicate cries spreading throughout the room, Andromeda Tonks would pick him up as gently as she always did, sit in her chair by the window, and rock him to sleep. When his cries would cease and his body relaxed and his breathing would even out, she would kiss him softly on the forehead, and hope that whatever had frightened him would be the only thing he'd fear for a very long time.


End file.
